Marijuana and Testosterone: Is There Any Negative Impact?

There is currently a hot
debate among researchers on the existence of a link between marijuana
and testosterone levels. Numerous studies result in controversial
findings, though most of them conclude that marijuana does not cause
any irreversible damage to male fertility. Here is what science can
say about the effect of weed on your testosterone level.

How Does Marijuana Affect Your
Testosterone Level?

The first study
that investigated this issue was carried out by Jack H. Mendelson et
al. in 1974. During the analysis, researchers monitored the
testosterone levels of 27 men aged between 21 and 26 years. All
participants consumed marijuana within a 21-day period. The findings
revealed no statistical link between chronic marijuana
use and
reduced testosterone levels
in plasma.

Another study
published by the New York Times
in 1981 discovered that marijuana
impacted testosterone
in two distinct phases. During the first stage, cannabis compounds
raised the levels of sexual hormones, including testosterone, while
the second stage brought a sudden drop of testosterone below the
normal level.

Marijuana-related studies conducted by Robert
C. Kolodny et al. in 1974 and by Harclerode
J. in 1984 suggested that THC and other
cannabinoids affected the production of the luteinizing and
follicle-stimulating hormones. These hormones are essential for
testosterone development. For instance, Kolodny discovered that
frequent pot consumption over the period of six months reduced the
testosterone level in males from 742
to 416ng/dL.

However, the results of a 1991 study
showed no significant effect of marijuana on reproductive hormones.
The study involved 93 males and 56 females who were divided into four
groups according to the frequency of their marijuana use. The
findings revealed no link between marijuana use and the level of testosterone,
follicle-stimulating hormone, cortisol, prolactin, and luteinizing
hormone.

Though
not all researchers support the negative correlation between
marijuana and testosterone levels, some of them are concerned about
sperm quality in males who consume the substance.

10 Ways Cannabis Affects Men and Women Differently

​As we have known for a long time, most drugs may affect men and women differently. That is the case with cannabis as well.

Marijuana and Sperm
Production

Testosterone, along with other reproductive hormones,
is crucial for sperm production, so Danish scientists investigated
how marijuana affected the sperm quality of healthy young men.

In their 2015 study,
they showed that consuming pot more than once per week reduced semen
concentration by 28 percent. This decrease reached 55 percent in
those participants who combined marijuana with alcohol. At the same
time, pot consumers had higher levels of testosterone comparing to
cigarette smokers.

Another study
conducted in 2014 revealed that regular marijuana use led to the
changes in male sperm. Young men aged under 30 had increased chances
of producing abnormally shaped sperm after marijuana use, which might
cause problems with sperm cells reproduction.

Additional studies have also discovered that THC can
negatively impact such markers of fertility as sperm motility,
capacity, quality, and count, which are quite important if you want
to have a baby in the future.

Fortunately, researchers have also revealed that
sperm is regenerated every 74 days, so a short abstinence from
marijuana will return your fertility to its normal level.

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Marijuana and Moobs Growing

There is also
one more possible side effect of testosterone reduction caused by
marijuana. Scientists at the National
Institute of Health
and the Mayo
Clinic discovered a link between chronic herb
use and gynecomastia in males. This disorder in the human endocrine
system leads to the growth of men breast tissue known as “moobs.”
Doctors linked this disorder to marijuana's impact on testosterone,
but some studies showed that this reason of gynecomastia
was quite contradictory.

Thus, further studies are necessary to provide more
profound knowledge on this issue. As for now, it can be concluded
that even if marijuana causes the reduction of testosterone levels in
males, these side effects are short-term and reversible.

Study Review: Cannabis and Sexual Dysfunction

​Thousands of patients are already using cannabis to treat various conditions, such as chronic pain, cancer, depression, and sleep disorders. But the herb is now hitting a new sphere in the pharmaceutical industry: sexual dysfunction. According to Business Insider, scientists from Italy and the Czech Republic have recently started research on the aphrodisiac properties of cannabis. Although there is a long way to creating a new “magic pill,” the study seems to be quite promising.

Marijuana has been used to treat the symptoms of gastrointestinal diseases for centuries. Few people know that until 1942, the drug had been widely prescribed for gastrointestinal disorders until its status as a legal medication was changed and marijuana was removed from the medical pharmacopeia.

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